![]() Read more: Philly’s best milkshake offers bold ideas and perfects time-honored classics ![]() Meanwhile, he mixed 20 flavors of ice cream and made 10 flavors of sundae each week. The crest, a cartoonish teddy bear dressed in bright pink and yellow, represents their cultural identity, a reference to the country’s traditional clothing.įor more than 300 days, Ayala Garcia has spent many dawns brewing Gabriel’s coffee and making Mexican snacks like esquites, nachos, aguas frescas, and dorelocos for sale. La Guerrerense refers to the Guerrero people, home of the Rojases. The Rojas family has been operating at Philly’s Italian Market since 2016, serving over 100 Mexican-style ice cream bars to a growing community. Mireya Rosa Chavez works behind the counter at La Guerrerense Ice Cream Inc. “The restaurant didn’t have many years under its belt and we had three daughters to feed.” “I used to tell him he was crazy,” said Gabriel’s wife, Marbella Ayala Garcia. In 2008, the siblings rented a building in Stanton, DE, painted the walls fuchsia and green, installed blue tile floors, a freezer, and a food prep area, and named it La Guerrerense. Read more: Our 8 favorite ice cream spots for ripping pints of emotional support “I put in all my effort and sacrifice, and I went in, trying to come up with a blend capable of making people say, ‘Wow! Such a joy.’” With Antonio focused on the restaurant, the ice cream parlor had room to freeze in Gabrielle’s head. “This was my chance to prove that Mexican ice cream is as good as gelato.” “Sometimes we think our stuff isn’t as good as siblings,” he said. He was fascinated by the number of Italian shops and was inspired by the Mexican community in the area. In 2006, they opened La Cabaña Restaurant in Stanton, DE.Ī year later, while on a business trip, Gabriel visited the Italian Philly market. This was my chance to prove that Mexican ice cream is just as good as gelato.” Gabriel Rojasįourteen years passed, during which the Rojas moved to Delaware and started their own family. “We sometimes think our stuff isn’t as good as gringos. In 1992, a plan is set in motion: Antonio returns to Mexico to attend culinary school and Gabrielle stays behind with multiple jobs to fund their newfound dream. Soon, the brothers conceived of the idea of opening their own restaurant. Soon after, Antonio joined him in the United States, and began cooking in Italian kitchens. In 1986, he was working in Los Angeles in orchards and vineyards. However, a lack of resources killed that dream. “I just wanted to be an architect,” he recalls with a smile. With no industrial equipment at home, they spun wooden buckets filled with fruit, milk, or water onto the salted snow.Īt the time, 10-year-old Gabriel saw the process as a chore. The Rojas family grew up in Guerrero, Mexico, helping their family make traditional, homemade ice cream to sell at city fairs. , tequila, and pine nuts.Īlthough it’s become a local staple, distributed to 65 stores across the Philadelphia tri-state and selling more than 110 gallons of ice cream a week, La Guerrerense’s story doesn’t begin in Philly. While original restaurants Max & Erma’s, Applebee’s and El Chico are long gone, this guide and list highlights the best largely locally owned options that have moved in since then.If there is such a thing as engineering ice cream, brothers Gabriel and Antonio Rojas have studied it experimentally over the past 15 years.Īt the corner of 9th and Ellsworth Streets, La Guerrerense ice cream parlor dazzles ice cream lovers with nearly a hundred combination ice cream and popsicle flavors, including mango and chili, beso de angel (a mix of cherries, marshmallows, and almonds), and Mamey’s. “We were really looking for standalone restaurants with lots of seating.”Īnd the result has been a neighborhood in Southeast Lexington that is big on locally owned restaurants that appeal to a diverse palate. “We didn’t want to have 25 pizza places,” he said. They decided to look at the market in segments, from fast-casual to fine dining take only one of each kind, he said. They wanted to attract chefs who would build neighborhood gathering spots, not places where cars whipped in and out on their way to somewhere else. “But we wanted something different,” he said. That became a little controversial, said developer Tim Haymaker, since banks were allowed to have drive-thrus. When what is now the Beaumont neighborhood - with its walkable mix of retail and restaurants, a library, YMCA and the Moondance Amphitheater - was being planned in the late 1980s-early 1990s, the developers made what seemed like a radical decision at the time: There would be no drive-thru restaurants.
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